Holyoke culinary students serve roast pork community dinner at Dean Technical High School

Staff photo by Don TreegerMaridianis Diaz brings chicken to the oven as culinary students prepare a community dinner at Dean Technical High School Jan. 13.

HOLYOKE – Jose J. Santana took a break from stirring the blueberry chutney, a sauce that guests later could spoon onto slices of roast pork.

“Tonight we’re just here cooking a nice meal out there,” said Santana, 17. “I like to cook. I like to make money, too, and you can make a lot of it cooking.”

Santana, a junior, was one of 40 culinary students who prepared a community dinner Jan. 13 at Dean Technical High School, 1045 Main St.

Mayor Alex B. Morse, city councilors and other officials were among the guests at the event aimed at helping to highlight the positives of a school roughed up by bad news in recent years.

Martin Fullwood, a chef and culinary department chairman at the vocational school, said the students with some staff help prepared dishes for up to 250 meals.

In addition to the pork and chutney, the menu had jerk chicken with coconut mandarin glaze, rosemary and orange red bliss potatoes and rice pilaf.

Fullwood stood in the kitchen as Santana and others wearing white chef hats and white tunics filled trays of food for the short trip down the hallway to the Dean cafeteria.

“These people are all running around, they’re doing stuff, they want to work. These aren’t the kids you see in the news shooting at each other,” Fullwood said.

Edwin E. Diaz, 17, was preparing slices of pork on a stainless steel counter top. He said he can see himself in a kitchen career.

“I hope to own my own restaurant some day,” said Diaz, a senior.

Maj. William E. Kieda Jr., who runs the Dean ROTC program, said the dinner and a dance that followed were put together by the culinary and ROTC students and the Dean student council.

“This whole event tonight is really more of a connecting Dean Technical High School with the whole community. It’s long overdue,” Kieda said.

Dean is under the private management of the Collaborative for Educational Services, of Northampton. The state in 2010 ordered the city to hire a private manager because the school on its own had failed to improve students’ persistently poor academic performance.

Officials chatted and then stood in the buffet line once dinner was served.

“I think it’s great,” Morse said. “I think the school needs a shot in the arm, and I’m ready to provide the leadership to help it move forward.”

“It’s a great community event,” said Devin M. Sheehan, School Committee vice chairman. “It’s really just one of the many events like this that are going on in the schools every day.”

Chefs Maridianis I. Diaz, 18, a senior, and Jennifer Hernandez, 17, a junior, said the dinner and dance can’t help but improve Dean’s image.